Simple Instruction

Ty:  Mom!  I'm going to Jeffrey's!!

Me:  Take your phone!

20 minutes later:

Me: {calling Ty--no answer, goes to voice mail}

21 minutes later:

Me:  {calling Ty--no answer, goes to voice mail}

22 minutes later:

Me:  {calling Ty--no answer, goes to voice mail}

23 minutes later:

Me:  Treyson!!  Get on your bike and GO GET TY!

A Few Minutes Later: {Trey and Ty get home}

Me:  Ty.  Come here.  Let me show you something.  You must use the POWER BUTTON to turn on your phone and then push the ANSWER BUTTON when I call you.

Ty: Oops.

Minnesota??

Last night's conversation with Tate:

Tate: I want to play hockey.

Me:  We live in the desert.  Where are you going to play hockey?

Tate: We need to move to Minnesota so I can play hockey.

Me: How do you know they play hockey in Minnesota?

Tate:  Because it's cold there.

Treyson:  What if one of those sharp skates cut you?

Tate:  I will have big pads on my arms and legs and body.  And besides I just have to watch out for the puck when it comes to me.

Who knew the kid knew anything about hockey??  I don't think we've ever watched a hockey game???

The 'coolest dad on the planet' took his 2 oldest boys, and 6 of their friends, to the midnight movie last night.

They got home around 3:00 a.m.

Tanner had baseball at 7:00 a.m.

I have a feeling it may be a VERY LONG DAY for 3 sleep deprived people.

Oh, Happy Day!!

After 11 1/2 weeks the cast FINALLY came off!

We jumped in the pool immediately after we got home from the doctor's office.

OH HAPPY DAY!!

TANK

Lucy's puppy, "Tank", on his birthday.

 "Tank" at 6 weeks...ready to be sold...

 "Tank", now known as "JAX" today.

We loved hearing from Jax's owners and love, love, love that they sent us this photo.  He may be named Jax, but he sure looks like a TANK!!

BBQ Judge

When they realize they can't beat you...

Win #1

Win #2

They make you a JUDGE!!

You Know You're A Baseball Mom When...

...you go to get an ice cold Coke and find this:

...and if your "special" child wears his batting helmet around the house for "safety" and then embellishes it when he's tired of how plain it looks.

Yummy Pasta

The other day we didn't have much in our fridge or pantry, but I did have enough ingredients to whip up this yummy pasta.  Most of my family loved it, so I thought I'd share...

1 lb raw shrimp,  peeled and de-veined

1 lg zucchini, sliced

1 lg yellow squash, sliced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1/2 box bow tie pasta (or any pasta of your choice) cooked al-dente

1 small white onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp fresh basil, torn or cut

Olive Oil- enough to just cover the bottom of pan

3/4 stick butter (I use margarine because of Tanner's dairy allergy)

1/2  to 1 cup white wine (you can use chicken stock if you'd rather)

In a large fry pan, coat the bottom with olive oil and melt butter.  When melted, add onions and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened.  Add garlic.  Allow to cook a minute or two in the onion/oil/butter mixture.  Watch carefully...garlic burns and when it does it tastes NASTY!!

Add in the zucchini and yellow squash and cook for 2-3 minutes--just until softened but not mushy.  Add tomatoes, shrimp, and white wine and let cook just until shrimp turn pink.  Add fresh basil and pasta, mix well, and serve.

We like to sprinkle ours with Parmesan cheese.

YUM!

Congratulations Ty!!

Blue...

...in color AND mood...

We go back in 10 days to have it checked again. 

Am I Mid-Life?

...Because I'm convinced I'm going through a mid-life crisis. 

Seriously.

I'm falling apart physically AND emotionally.

It stinks. 

I hate it. 

 I don't want to get old. 

And I hate the word "peri-menopause" but my OBGYN insists on saying it.

I hate the fact that the 40 pounds that I've been trying to lose for 7 years refuse to leave my body.

I hate the fact that I have ZERO energy to go to the gym.

I hate that my kids rub my "soft arms", like I used to do to my mom. 

 I know now why she didn't like us to do it.

I hate that I can't sleep at night even though I'm completely exhausted, and if I do happen to fall asleep it doesn't last because I'll be up 4 or 5 times to use the restroom. 

I hate that my 14.5 year old broke the news that he needs to shave and that it made me cry real tears, all while my family was sitting at the dinner table, staring at me like I'd lost my mind.

I hate that in my attempt to lose my 40 pounds, a two mile jog will be followed by the emptying of the contents of my stomach.

I hate that after my 2 mile jog I won't be able to walk without pain for at least 2 days, if not longer. 

I hate that I am so completely and utterly out of shape.

I also hate that I'm having this mid-life crisis, and have decided that it ends here with these words on this page.  It's true that there's nothing I can do about getting older, but there's lots I can do...

and I LOVE that I am the one in control.

Where Was I??

Ok, so I'm trying to catch up again.  Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures for this post, so it will just be a lot of words. 

On May 21st, Ty's ASTROS team played in the League Championship, but lost. 

Ty was "dealin'", as we like to say when he is pitching out of his head, but his ace pitching couldn't make up for the lack of defense behind him.

He wasn't very excited about his "runner up" trophy.

The last day of school was May 26th.  They had a big to-do for the graduating 6th graders.  Ty was pretty happy to finally be done with elementary school.  Now...on to Jr High (heaven help us)!!

We had a pretty low key Memorial Day, spending our time swimming.  It was good.

On Tuesday, May 31st, we had our 5th Annual Fun In The Sun Pool Party with my book club friends and their children.  Of course I didn't take any pictures.  I didn't want to break the streak of five consecutive swim parties without one photo to prove it even happened.  Uuuugggg.

On Thursday, June 2nd, we excitedly went to the doctor's office to f-i-n-a-l-l-y have Tate's cast removed.

Sadly, and I mean tears and all--oh, and Tate shed some too, it still wasn't healed and he had to get ANOTHER cast.  (His 4th--1 black, 1 purple, 1 red, and now...)

GREEN!!

Ten more days in a cast and then we're crossing our fingers that his elbow will be healed.  He was most upset about missing baseball camp that starts next week.  Luckily, they told him to come anyway and that they'd find some fun stuff for him to do.

Tanner started his HS Summer Ball program on the 31st.  He goes Monday-Thursday, with games on Tuesday's and Thursday's.  He L-O-V-E-S it, and gets himself out of bed early every morning to get to the HS by 6:20.  Ty started his summer ball program on the 1st.  He goes Wednesday and Friday.  He loves it, too.

Treyson tried out for the 9-10 All Star team on Saturday morning.  He did really well, but knew he wouldn't make it.  I was proud of him for trying anyway. 

Ty tries out for All Stars on the 15th.  Their tournament will be the week following July 4th. 

Well, that's it for now.  We're all trying to adjust to being together sooooooo much.  Tempers have flared a bit over the past week, but I'm sure we'll settle into a routine soon and not irritate each other as much.  (hee, hee!!)

JUNE

I've been feeling a bit home-sick for this:

{view from my parent's back yard}

But first, I have to tackle this:

I'm excited for JULY!!